Local sources reported on Tuesday that the M23 rebel group has regained control of the village of Kishishe in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The group faces accusations of perpetrating a massacre in the area late last year.
According to various sources, the Tutsi-led rebels, reportedly supported by Rwanda, had pulled out of the village at the start of April. This withdrawal coincided with their departure from other areas in North Kivu province that they had captured the previous year.
However, following six months of relative tranquility, intense fighting resumed in early October between the rebels and the army, which was supported by self-proclaimed “patriot” armed factions.
Since that time, the M23 seems to have slowly reclaimed the positions they had previously abandoned.
Kishishe remains mostly deserted by its residents; however, fighting occurred in the area for two days before the army intervened, as reported by sources interviewed via telephone from Goma, the provincial capital.
“The invaders launched large-scale attacks,” said an officer speaking on condition of anonymity, claiming that the rebels had received reinforcements from the Rwandan army. “These are Rwandans attacking us”, he said.
“Kishishe has been controlled by the M23” since late Monday afternoon, said a local civil society representative, information confirmed by two security sources.
“The M23 is in Kishishe… The population has fled to (the neighbouring localities of) Kirima, Mutanda, Kanyabayonga, Kibirizi”, said a village official.
“There’s a lot of tension in Kibirizi, where displaced people are arriving in droves”, said one resident.
He further mentioned that FDLR militiamen, disguised in civilian attire, are also converging on the town.
The hills surrounding Kishishe hold historical significance as strongholds of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia established by Rwandan Hutu leaders responsible for the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
In November 2022, the UN reported that M23 rebels took the lives of 171 individuals in Kishishe, primarily boys and men whom they accused of being part of militias.
The M23 denies having committed such a massacre.
The Tutsi-led M23 rebels, also known as the “March 23 Movement,” faced defeat in 2013 but resumed armed activities in November 2021 in North Kivu, which shares borders with Rwanda and Uganda.